-------------- Tales of the Raptors – City of Thieves

“Xanthius, City of Thieves.”

“You have never seen a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.”

“We must be cautious.”

There is no law in Equideyea, none that shows any consistency anyway. The region is little more than barbarian lands, with scattered city states here and there that pretend to be civilized. The lands are mostly the home of the Equideyean horsemen, the best riders and horse breeders anywhere. It is widely agreed that the so-called Kingdom of Equideyea has the personal blessing of both Poseidon and Athena. But in the city of Xanthius, sitting precariously atop the Cliffs of Glyth, looking straight down fifteen thousand feet into the Deep Desert, it is Brandobaris, Erevan Illisere, Abbathor, Hermes and Loki that hold sway.

The Warlord of Glyth was seduced and murdered by Gahnimah Xanth centuries ago. In the ages since, the city has become the sole property of the Xanth Guild, perhaps the most prosperous, infamous, and powerful syndicate on Arrallon. That doesn’t mean the people prosper under their rule. Nor is it ever likely that “the people” will ever have a say about how things got done. But the Guild is not stupid, nor are the majority of its elders fools. The Guild allows everyone the chance to “make it big”. However, that created an unofficial competition amongst the orphans, thuglings, and gang scum. The result of that competition has been ongoing gang warfare on the streets, with the scum fighting it out to gain reputation and eventually the notice of the Guild itself.

Outside of that, Xanthius serves one more vital function. As the main trade route between the Deep Desert and the rest of the world thanks to the Duergar elevator buried deep inside the mountains, Xanthius serves as the main port for the sale of crystal dust to the world. Of course, the Guild takes its cut from all profits, from nearly every enterprise that crops up in the city, making the Boss of Bosses, Haziz Fekesh, one of the richest men on the planet. In the ongoing struggle to simply make enough to get by, barkers, street pushers, serious businessmen and gang slime can be found selling dust anywhere at any hour of the day or night. That feeds prostitution, gambling and cage fights. And with no real law to stand against these pursuits, Xanthius became a town of anything goes.

With all that money, dust and action going on. Almost anyone can get rich quick. More likely however, they come here and fail miserably, ending up on the streets, or piled up dead in the back alleys. And then, there are those who simply disappear. That’s where the miles and miles of passages built by the Duergar come in. The place called UnderXanth. If you ever gain entrance to those passages, beware. There are older and fouler things than Drow in the deep places beneath Xanthius. And some of them are human.

-------------- Thanks & please comment